The Struggle is Real

In Matthew 6:6 Jesus says, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen.”

I’ve been praying since before I can remember.  That doesn’t mean it’s always been easy.  Since high school, I’ve been told that to be a good Christian I needed to have “my devotions” every day, to read my Bible and pray without fail.  That was hard to me, that was a real struggle.  For many years I was a failure, I went to church, prayed before every meal, read my bible and prayed pretty much every week, but because I didn’t do it every day, I lived in defeat in my spiritual life. I couldn’t live up to the expectation.

After years of struggling I gave up, I decided that if I read my Bible and prayed 2 or 3 times a week, that would be a win. Feeling guilty for not praying every day felt a lot like legalism and I didn’t think it was healthy for my walk with Jesus to feel so defeated.

I began to relate more closely to 1 Thessalonians 5:16 that says we are to pray without ceasing.  That may sound even more intimidating, but I understood it to mean that we are to pray as we go through our day, whenever we want and as the need arises. The struggle for me with praying like this was that “whenever” can easily become never.

Many Christians struggle between these two extremes. The legalism of structured, scheduled everyday prayer and the liberalism of praying whenever and wherever.  I believe the solution to our struggle is the best of both extremes.  We need to have times of focused prayer, getting by ourselves and going through the list. Jesus did say that we were to go to our room and pray.  Prayer emphasis, like what we are having at church, remind us to be intentional in our prayer life.

But we also need to pray all the time as we go through our day.  Jesus is a friend who is closer than a brother.  We want to live and eat and work knowing we are in the presence of God.  Prayer is not just something we do and then are done for the day.  Prayer is the way that we live.  Being a friend to Jesus in prayer is who we are as Christians.

I’m reminded of the hymn:

“What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in Prayer.  Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share, Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer.”

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, help us to live in your presence, knowing that you are always available in prayer. Lord, help us to spend time in scheduled prayer because the structure helps us creates habits of praying for others. God, we need you, we love you, teach us to pray. For it is in Jesus’ name that we pray, Amen.

Blessings,

Pastor Vern Riehle